1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of hinges for supporting doors, panels, lids, covers and the like and, more particularly, to hinge devices which can be adjustably provided for mounting to a door or other supporting member.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Lift-off hinge assemblies are known in the art and are particularly useful for securing a door, cover or the like to a frame or other hinging surface. However, one problem associated with the use of these types of hinges is the inability to make adjustments to accommodate door assemblies which employ gaskets or other seals between the frame and the door. In such circumstances, it is advantageous to have an adjustable hinge in order to accommodate a range of thicknesses of the gaskets and to maintain the gasket under compression, even if the gasket should undergo a change in thickness due to continuous compression during use. Adjustable hinges are needed to solve the problems associated with such hinge applications.
One type of hinge used in the art includes lateral slots as mounting apertures for mounting a hinge knuckle to the closure member, thus permitting side-to-side adjustment of the knuckle, which, in turn, varies the distance between the closure member and its frame. Another known adjustable hinge employs a two-piece base assembly in which the base of the two piece assembly is affixed to the closure member and second piece of the base is mounted to the first piece. The two pieces of the base are designed such that they are allowed to be adjusted with respect to each other before tightening.
Other hinge types, though not adjustable, feature shims which are used for spacing the axis of rotation from the frame.
One problem with prior art hinges is that when adjustment of the hinge is desired, while the hinge is still supporting the door, it is very difficult due to the load of the door. Misalignment can occur if the door hinge is not properly seated. This often requires loosening or removing the hinge and then re-tightening or securing it.
A need exists for a hinge that can be adjusted to accommodate various size panel installations, and which can be used with various gasketed door panels. There also exists a need to provide the adjustable features where the door panel can be mounted from a variety of positions, including perpendicular, coplanar or collinear, and from different directions.
It is also known to employ various types of hinge devices which operate to retain a door, lid, cover and the like, in an opened or closed position are known. For example, some types of hinge devices, including, in particular, those employed on vertically swinging kitchen cabinet doors, exert a torque to retain the door in a closed position. However, in certain circumstances, the amount of torque provided from the hinge is insufficient to maintain the door in a closed position, such as, for example, in response to inadvertent contact forces. Many of these types of hinges do not function to permit the door to remain in an open position. Another type of hinge known is used on vertically swinging doors and incorporates a wave-shaped cam surface which allows the door to rest in either an opened or closed position. However, the opened or closed positioning of the hinge is limited to the location of the downward sloped portion of the cam surface. In addition, the application of the hinge is limited to vertically swinging doors since the weight of the door on the cam surface functions to position the hinge. Still, another type of hinge in common use incorporates an adjustable knuckle member which generates a torque upon a hinge pin in order to retain a vertically or horizontally swinging door in an opened position. However, the torque which is generated by adjustment of a screw member creates drag throughout the entire range of motion of the hinge. In addition, the hinge has a tendency to spring open slightly when the door is closed, thereby necessitating an additional latch to retain the door in the closed position.
Another type of hinge is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,842 to Allen Riblett and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the complete disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,842 is directed to a detent hinge for use with either vertically or horizontally swinging doors. The detent hinge incorporates detent balls and coil springs which operate to bias the detent balls in the direction of a pin assembly. The pin assembly is provided with a number of openings provided within its surface into which the detent balls are adapted to be received for retaining the door in a detent position relative to the frame. The detent hinge also incorporates means for adjusting the amount of torque which is required to move the hinge out of its detent positions, which is accomplished by varying the size, strength and/or number of coil springs and detent balls within the hinge. For this purpose, the detent hinge is provided with a removable retaining member which is opened to gain access for adjusting the amount of torque provided by the coil springs and detent balls. There have, however, been certain limitations noted with this particular detent hinge. One limitation is that the hinge must be of a sufficiently large enough size due to the arrangement of the coil springs and detent balls with the device. Accordingly, there is a limit in the types of applications that this particular detent hinge can be used; specifically, such hinge can not be used in certain applications where a small hinge would be required, such as with smaller doors or where space for mounting the hinge would be limited. Another limitation is that the detent hinge can be susceptible to corrosion due to the particular materials of the device; in particular, due to the coil springs and detent balls which are preferably manufactured of metal. For this same reason, the relative costs to manufacture the device can be higher since components manufactured of metal are utilized.
An "Adjustable Lift-Off Hinge" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,500 to Robert H. Bisbing, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the complete disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. This hinge assembly employs a longitudinal adjustable knuckle member which is rotatably coupled to a support member along the longitudinal axis, and a longitudinal fixed base member having a convex outer surface pivotally connected to a longitudinal side of the adjustable knuckle member.
A need exists for providing a hinge assembly which can be utilized for applications where panel mounting surfaces are parallel to each other, or even coplanar with each other. Such situations generally do not permit a perpendicular positioning of the members on which the hinge components are to be mounted. A need therefore exists to provide a hinge assembly which can be utilized in installations where one panel is either parallel or coplanar to another panel.
In addition, hinge installation generally requires that panels which are to carry the hinge components be precisely aligned to permit uninhibited swinging of the panel, and operation of the hinging mechanism, by eliminating interference from the stress or imbalance of an improperly positioned hinge or panel. A need exists for a versatile hinge mechanism which permits adjustment of the hinge components relative to vertical and horizontal directions.
In addition, there are generally limitations on the mounting of known hinges. For example, in some prior art type hinges, mounting of the hinge components requires particular orientation of the panels. In some instances, for example, hinges can only be mounted to a mounting surface in one direction, from the front or from the rear, but not either direction. Such devices do not meet the needs of installations requiring mounting from a specified direction relative to the hinge operation. There further exists a need for a versatile hinge assembly which provides greater adaptation for mounting the hinge onto a door panel.